This plantation gives a tour explicitly from the point of view of the enslaved people that lived there. They do not intend a light fluffy experience. They do not want you to walk away feeling light. Our tour guide had personal connections to six of the nine black people who were killed in 1990 by someone who had gone on this tour. The big house is not part of the tour, but you can walk it on your own, there is no furniture and you can only get to the main floor. You will get to look into the slave quarters. You'll get to pick a eucalyptus leaf off a tree and learn about the medicinal uses. You'll get to see the Cook house and hear about the slave children who had to bring the food from there to the big house. You'll learn about various people who lived there throughout the years and how their lives progress before and after their time at this plantation. read more

Really pretty land, and interesting history. VERY over priced. The tour is very short and just talks abt the history, there is nothing else to really do besides the tour. You can go in the main house but only the first Floor and all the rooms are empty. read more

McLeod Plantation Historic Site - Old oak tree - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

This is a great way to learn about the history of slaves and the civil war along with the history of this plot of land. The staff were friendly and knowledgeable. read more

McLeod Plantation Historic Site - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

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I wish I could give 6 stars. Georgette was the best guide. We were able to have the most amazing conversations about history and culture and reflect on where we are now. They were so accommodating to my grandmas wheelchair, even letting us use their outdoor wheelchair for her to go inside the house. They were able to have her in a golf cart for the tour and still included her in the conversations. My only suggestion would be to have QR codes in multiple locations for electronic donations to the preservation organization! I'll recommend this place to everyone that comes to visit. Thank you!! read more

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Amazing guided tour through a dark part of of the United States history. Allows you to understand the truth behind slavery and later difficult emancipation. Very interesting and a must when visiting Charleston. The guided tour is around an hour long and touches on key points of the history of the McLeod Plantation read more

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Visited the McLeod plantation cautiously, as an African-American, not sure how I would feel about being in a place where so many innocent lives lived, toiled, were brutalized, and died to enrich and benefit so called White-Americans and Europeans. Our tour person Harriet has a deeply personal connection to Charleston, SC and her story telling of the McLeod enslaved is well researched and compassionate. She provides documentation and historical references but stops short of speaking for the enslaved, which is very sobering and real. After almost every enslaved narrative she shares she concludes solemnly with, "...and how the enslaved felt about their situation. We don't know." Our tour lasted about an hour and a half...we were a diverse group of a dozen adults ranging in age from 20's to 60's and walked at a leisurely pace. Harriet rode in a golf cart with a visitor with a cast on her foot. What I most appreciated about the tour is the clarity it brings to bear on the degree of delusion, hypocrisy, and immorality required to enslave and deprive entire families for generations. It is understandable, but not acceptable, the ancestors, benefactors, and those who are unaware of the details of this historical horror (who may continue to enjoy the benefits) would want to erase or deny it occurred. read more

McLeod Plantation Historic Site - McLeod Plantation Historic Site - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

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I know that plantation tours are a standard part of most tourist itineraries when visiting Charleston. Please skip the Disney-fied bigger name spots and instead visit the McLeod grounds (or, at minimum, check out both) for a tour that gives a truer picture of plantation life centered around experiences of enslaved people forced to work the land. Is it sobering? Yes. Is it worthwhile? Absolutely. Our particular tour guide was a bit sarcastic and prone to tangents to the point that I could see a few fellow visitors become frustrated and tune out. However, he was deeply knowledgeable about Gullah Geechee history, so I listened intently and chalked up his edginess to passion with a side of appropriate anger. After scanning reviews, I also believe his style is an anomaly amongst the roster of McLeod guides, so your mileage may very well vary. read more

We came to visit but we were between tours and bad weather was looming so we opted to do the self guided tour with the app in our phone. I was so glad I was able to teach another generation of the horrors inflected at this place. I appreciate they don't allow any events like weddings and keeping it a solemn place read more

As a part of America's ugly history, this was on our lists of places to visit. With a Charleston county parks pass, we got free admission for out group of three, which was great since adult admission is $20/each. We started at the visitors center and arrived at a fortunate time: the last tour of the day was set to depart soon at 2:30pm. The tour is well-worth the fees as our guide Noah was super knowledgeable, empathetic, and honest with our group. Noah's focus was family: not the family this site is named for, but the families who were enslaved here and who grew their own families. He shared a wealth of information with us in a sobering, authentic manner than allowed us to reflect on the reality of the folks who lived here, not by choice, and how their lives were impacted and transformed by the McLeod family. I appreciated the family theme as well as seeing the conditions of the plantation. I was surprised to learn that the last residents of the homes left in 1990, I would've thought much earlier. Our tour lasted until closing time (4pm) and at that point, our last stop was visiting the McLeod home (first floor open). Besides the enlightening tour, the best part about our visit was the sweet black kitty I saw hanging out near the home. We did pass by the location of the cemetery but didn't perceive much, our guide had shared they were working on identifying the graves. There is also a pavilion available for rental, during our visit there was a retirement party happening. Interesting to think this land originally spanned 30+ acres and today you can hear the roar of cars on the road and other noises nearby. Glad we came here and learned more about the families who sustained the cotton enterprise and suffered deeply as they strived for freedom. read more

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Top-notch and very enthusiastic tour guide. Here's a video about my experience. https://youtu.be/EPDdvn34Nfg?si=m9am4S095qF7fTOa read more

My wife and I participated on this awesome tour at the end of Feb 2024, with our tour guide: Tobi. Her passion as she shared stories of her own ancestry on these grounds and the stories of a terrible time in history, in South Carolina, as well as in America! We were intrigued to learn the history of the McLeod Plantation, not from the landowner, but from the enslaved people whose work and lives are the very foundation of this historic site. Tobi was amazing with retelling the history of the generations (families) who lived here, but extremely knowledgeable and interesting sharing the stories of hope and community as family. Such an eye opening experience and a truthful, heartfelt discussion shared with deep compassion from Tobi that made this experience profound as we still talk about it today. Highly Recommended! read more

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Love the tour and really appreciated the fact that the tour tells the story from the perspective of the enslaved people.

Harriet was our tour guide and she is an accomplished storyteller. This plantation centers its narrative around the experience of the enslaved people, which is super important. It is, understandably, a heart-wrenching and tragic chapter of history. I learned much that I didn't know and am so grateful for the experience. Highly recommended! read more

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Ista gave an incredible tour. You would be lucky to learn from his deep knowledge of the grounds, of Charleston, and of slavery.

Definitely worth a visit to learn and experience a very different perspective on what so many visitors were taught about both the antebellum and reconstruction era of the southern experience. Our guide had a lot of passion but also quite a bit of anger and sarcasm especially as it pertained to false information. While he invited questions throughout, I felt he didn't always set an inviting tone or display tolerance for comments, questions, or (mis)understandings that didn't align with his truths. I think ppl come to a place like this because they genuinely want to learn, I did, and feel he had a valuable and unique opportunity to invite discussion and help educate others to relearning aspects of history that for many of us we believed was taught in good faith. Its not an easy subject. read more

This plantation is one of the closest to Charleston and it had the highest Yelp rating although not the highest number of reviews. Most of the Yelp reviews were positive except a few and I was playing the odds that I would enjoy an informative tour and leave more informed. I was more informed however I did not appreciate the personal assertions on the "unchanging line of the racism of the past to the present". This tour focuses on post-Civil war reconstruction era. At one point the tour guide (Paul) lost track of his monologue. The tour was scheduled for 45 minutes but thankfully he finished after 40. Yes, it was an awful time in our history and there's no need to tell anything but the truth but the tone and insinuations of the tour guide were too much for my wife and I. The woke culture today justifies the looting, violence and crime we find in our cities as a natural response for slavery and racism. We left the plantation immediately after the tour and had no interest in remaining. I can listen to the app audio on my own. We attended the Boone Hall Plantation earlier this week and their tour guides and speakers were so much better. read more

McLeod Plantation Historic Site - The original front side of the big house. - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

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[Coronavirus review] The story I was told included this place being beautified by its former owners to make it look less like a factory farm, and the county recently purchasing the property and refurbishing it for public viewing. The preserved area isn't huge and it is urban, so you'll see cars whizzing by. However, it is very convenient to downtown Charleston, and the embeddedness of its context perhaps leaves an impression that a more remote site would not. The one tour on offer was socially distant, with rope squares for tour guides to stand in. Mine seemed to know his history and talked about the broader story of the Civil War. It was a short tour, supplemented by some signage. There seemed to me to be the potential to do more education in the space (and perhaps they will when viral contagion is less pressing), but even right now I thought it worth a detour. read more

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Absolutely amazing experience / highly recommend. Definitely do the guided tour - especially with Tobi. Learned so much history in such a short period of time. read more

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Powerful. If you're looking for "Gone with the Wind" or support for a telling of the glory of the Lost Cause, don't take the guided tour. If you are looking for a heart-felt look at real history of a working sea island cotton plantation told with an emphasis on the lives of the enslaved folk and their descendants- this is the place for you. We had an absolutely fabulous tour from a guide who is passionate about African American history. She pours herself into the tour and the affect on me was strong. Probably good for 10+ years old and with an interest in history. In addition to the fabulous tour, the grounds are lovely and there are many preserved buildings. Go here if you have a chance and are open to the history being taught. read more

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We decided to check out McLeod Plantation, as it was very close to where we were staying, and it was a bit less expensive than some of the larger plantations that were about 30 minutes away. Easy to navigate. We joined the first tour of the morning, and I'm so glad we did. Our guide was very informative and passionate about telling us about McLeod. (He has direct ties to family members that used to actually work/live at the plantation, so he told recounted stories from family members). There are 4 original slave quarter building left standing, but it gives a good representation of what life was like back in the day. There isn't much to see IN the actual main house. We tried to go across the street to see the family cemetery, but wasn't able to find it easily, despite being marked by a sign. We decided it wasn't worth traveling down the path, into a woodier area, due to the mosquitoes. read more

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Everyone here was friendly and the entry price is reasonable at $20 per adult. There's plenty of parking. This spot is closer to downtown than many of the other ballyhooed plantation sites like Boone, Drayton and Middleton. The tour was solid, with lots of great info. You can go inside the house on your own after the tour. We enjoyed the exhibits in the house. The one thing that keeps me from giving 5 stars is that our tour did not give as much depth of what it felt like to live on the plantation in the historical time period, particularly for the slaves. I got more of that from the free app I downloaded for the site. read more

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This is definitely a place that needs to be put on ur bucket list! The tour guides where very knowledgeable and passionate about the historical significance about the place. They really put their hearts and soul into the historical background of the place! read more

I've come again twice more with out of town visitors since my initial visit, and I still highly recommend this tour. I've had two different guides now, and then the third time I kind of toured my family around on my own bc we were pressed for time. It's $20/per person even if you don't do the guided tour, but if you have the park pass you get two people in, included with that. After three visits, I still highly, highly recommend this tour. read more

McLeod Plantation Historic Site - Oak Allée - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

Such an enlightening and enriching experience! This place really teaches true, honest history which is what we came for! Paul, our tour guide, was phenomenal!!! Would highly recommend this plantation, and the guided tour is a MUST! read more

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Incredible tour. It is very clear that the exhibits and tour were thoroughly researched and are periodically updated as more is discovered. Our tour guide was passionate about the subject and did not shy away from detailing past injustices and how they are linked with present ones. Specifically, their work in identifying individuals that were enslaved at this plantation as well as their lived experiences is nothing short of impressive, especially given the work that was done to erase their stories. Sites like these are critical to learn from the past and to keep the memory of those enslaved on the plantation alive for present and future generations, and I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to visit. read more

Educational and sobering. I agree with the other reviews that this is a must see. A McLeod lived here until 1990. And tenants lived in the tenant house (enslaved quarters) until 1990 as well. This was an eye opening walk through history at a place where the memory of the civil war, the reason behind the war and the struggle of so many is still quite fresh. It's not a fancy house, it isn't full of furniture and the stories are focused mostly on those who were forced to serve here. Unlike the other plantations in Charleston this one tries to paint a picture of the people who were enslaved here so it was good to see after touring Magnolia. There is a lot to see on the property, we only did the formal tour and a short visit to the house. But I'd highly recommend visiting. read more

McLeod Plantation Historic Site - Inside welcome center - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

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This was my first ever plantation visit, and I'm glad it was! My partner and I were interested in doing a plantation tour while visiting Charleston, and I found a couple of online reviews that recommended McLeod Plantation for their honest and ethical take on the history of plantations in the south and Charleston. It wasn't clear whether we could purchase admission tickets online in advance but we were able to come on a weekday and get tickets for the morning of. Tours are included with the admission but you are able to do a self-guided tour as well. The main house isn't part of the tour so make sure to stop by on your own (only the first floor is open to public). If you want to visit a plantation that doesn't glorify the slavery or the Antebellum South, this is it! read more

We enjoyed our visit to McLeod and left feeling like we left learning a bit about the history of this place. The plantation is sombering (I can't wrap my head around why people have celebrations at these places). The tour was long and only had a couple of stops along the way, so prepare yourself for a lot of standing and listening, more than a half hour at each stop. There's a house on the property and it's confusing to me why that isn't part of the tour. read more

Very informative! tour guide was amazing and great with any questions we had. beautiful and well kept. great for all ages to learn and experience. really do recommend taking the time to go! we also got to see the "mama fox" from far and it made my day! read more

McLeod Plantation Historic Site - mama fox - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

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As I'm a complete sucker for historical tours, I needed to do one on my first weekend in Charleston, and chose McLeod Plantation because I'm very interested in what slavery was like in the South before the Civil War. They offer a guided tour here, so of course I took it. Interestingly enough, the interior of the main house is not part of the guided tour, so I had to go back and see it myself afterwards. The areas of the plantation the tour does cover are interesting, but there isn't all that much to see. Apparently the McLeods were considered middle class, but even middle class families had slaves back then. The main mansion has been restored, but the interior of the house is unfurnished; they use the space for pictures that you can look at as part of self-guided tours. read more

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The guide was really good - friendly and knowledgeable. It's not as big as most of the plantations nearby but it's close to Charleston and worth the trip. read more

If you're going to pay $20 admission, do yourself the favor and catch the guided tour. We did the 12:30 tour on a Sunday and what was quoted at an hour took about an hour and a half, but our tour guide Irsa was a wealth of knowledge and hit on all the points. Appreciated the stories of the McLeod plantation and history of sea island cotton, plus the stories of the enslaved and their descendants stretching all the way to the 1990s! Highly recommend visiting if you love history and want to learn more about the rich history in and around Charleston. read more

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While this tour was hard to digest, I appreciate the rawness of the provided information. How the facts are delivered is centered around the enslaved people. This allows the truth to be told and not sugarcoating what is. I toured with Kate I believe and she was very informative. I paid $20 (as an adult) to tour the entire property. Once I paid, I was assigned a tour group that started around 10:30 AM. The tour also included some photos that the tour guide had on hand to show since some things have been renovated. My tour ended around noon, so if you go wear comfortable shoes and clothing. Once the tour ended, we were able to tour the property on our own like the house since the tour doesn't include going inside the home. If you are in the area I highly recommend you go and learn. read more

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I cannot recommend this tour enough. I've been twice and both tour guides were good. Each gave a slightly different tour, but both were meaningful. Let's stop romanticizing about these plantations and consider what they truly were - a place of bondage and torture for human beings. This plantation gives us accurate history. read more

Extremely powerful tour focusing on the stories of enslaved people and their journey to freedom. Highly recommend Paul's tour - he does not shy away from difficult topics and invites people to challenge their preconceptions of "plantations" aka forced labor camps. The exhibits showcase forgotten and suppressed voices, and skillfully show how our current society is still linked with the racism and brutality of the past. Thank you Paul and team for an incredible tour and for your unwavering dedication to sharing these important histories. read more

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Just about everyone I spoke to in regards to visiting Historic Sites in Charleston, S.C. told me that McLeod Plantation was a must and I can certainly see why. This is only the second of many Plantations in the United States where the stories were told about the early Slavery days, from the Slaves' point of view. Only what they saw and only how they lived. The second Plantation is in New Orleans called the Whitney Plantation. We never really checked out what time the tour started and got to the Plantation, located on James Island, where so many Plantations occupied. We got there before 10:00 am and the nice and knowledgeable lady who ran the museum where you got tickets for the tour for a reasonable price, told us we could actually tour this ourselves if we did not want to wait for the guide. How were we to do this? Genious!!! She had an IPhone App that was already downloaded on her phone that we could control each part of the tour of the Plantation by pressing on the number of each location we were standing at. We could go back and forth and repeat and learn on our own. Maybe not as complete as the regular tour guide, but we had the freedom to take our time and do this to try to understand more of the history of this important time in our history. We could of downloaded this on our own, but she was so nice to let us use her phone. McLeod's Plantation was a Sea Cotton Plantation farmed by slaves in the early to late 1800's. Sea Cotton has not grown on this plantation for over 100 years, but the seeds are starting to become available again now as they are trying now to grow again here, which will take many more years to develop. The "MAIN HOUSE" where the McLeod's lived as slave owners was definitely what we thought it would be although not a big "mansion" sized house. For certain, we were brought back to the 1850's and beyond by being able to see all the original items in the house. The original brick stairs leading up to this beautiful "Gone With the Wind" style house, rocking chairs on the porch, the old piano which really was amazing to actually see one from that time. There were story boards up in the rooms explaining the times between the Confederate occupation to the years the slaves fought for rights after the Emancipation during which the McLeod's returned to the Plantation. We could read this at our own pace. We were only allowed on the first level of the house and could not go up the wooden stairs. Being able to go from each of the small, "cold" shacks the slaves resided in on the property was really quite chilling, just to think how they lived and treated by the slave owners. We could look into these dwellings from outside the entrance doors, all having a fireplace for warmth a small area and some shelves. Although this was a different time in American History which shaped our future, just looking at these very small dwellings and the cotton fields that they faced, it almost seemed unbelievable that the country we know today would or could ever experience inhuman treatment of human beings known as "property" to the slave owners of this time. For that reason, this tour is a MUST SEE and MUST LEARN, and to feel yourself standing on the very soil that this took place on. After the tour we walked around the grounds and saw the very old Oak Trees, one being over 300 years old. If this tree had eyes, it saw it all. The building that the tour started in and that you get the tickets in had books and souvenirs to purchase. In the middle is an old Cotton Gin, that separated the seeds out of the Sea Cotton. The nice woman who was running the tours showed us how it worked. In fact she answered a lot of questions for us and supplied additional information we did not get on the self guided tour. Next time we visit Charleston, I want to go on the guided tour here. The weather was quite cold this week and during the spring, summer or fall will be a lot better. I would advise to check out the tour times, go early and get the tickets there or they can be bought on line. This part of our history shaped where we are today and disagreements on the subject of slavery between the Union and the Confederacy was the cause of the biggest war that shaped our history. For that reason, this is a tour that all Americans should experience. read more

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We had the best tour guide. Very nice, easy and relaxing. Lots of history and the staff is very knowledgeable. Beautiful grounds to see and walk. Glad we got to experience this McLeod plantation tour read more

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Wonderful, thought provoking, educational tour. Glad I did it. The entry fee is a little steep (20$) but worth it in my opinion.

So I can't make a full and accurate review of this Plantation because I was there when it was closed, however the kind park ranger that was there allowed us to walk the grounds...which in itself carried so much history that it sufficed in allowing me and my friends an opportunity to grasp the feel of plantation life for black slaves. What I do like about McLeod Plantation is that unlike private plantations, its very affordable and almost half the cost of private plantations to tour. The entrance is not as grand, but it is still very awe-inspiring. Walking the grounds I was able to sit outside by the large oak tree synonymous with the region. Its large branches shaded an area of the yard that allows for the opportunity to imagine what life was like back in the period it was set to represent. The slave quarters were not far from the big house. We also was able to peak in the barn, cotton gin and the outhouse. I'm sure the inside was pretty amazing, however we were not able to view it. If you have young children who you want to introduce the topic of slavery to, then this is the perfect living example. Older kids may want to see a location more grand. read more

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One of the worst tour experiences in my life. If I could give this place zero stars, that would be an overstatement. The house had been stripped of period furniture/artifacts and replaced with contemporary kid's artwork and other information that had nothing to do with the plantation. Then came the worst part of the experience - the tour. The tour guide was so paranoid of COVID that he made everyone stand more than 15 feet from him - if you got too close, he would put out his hand and back up without explaining why he was doing this. Then he proceeded to preach to us about "white privilege" and lay guilt trips on any white person in the group as if we had been slave owners ourselves (by the way, our tour guide was white). I fully understand how horrific slavery was, but I was expecting a tour with facts as opposed to activist opinions. His final comment was that America is no different today then it was over two centuries ago. This was a complete waste of my time and money. read more